Episode 136
The conviction that the most terrible thing will be repeated is enough to break a person.
This means that Hong Gyeong-jun thought so.
* * *
“Chief!”
“Jaeheon Lee!”
When Lee Jae-heon ran out to follow Song In-myeong, who had run away. Kang Min-ah, who was frozen and unable to understand the situation, immediately followed after her, and Ha Seong-yoon also moved quickly to see her movements. This was thanks to the fact that I had been through quite a few unexpected situations.
Nevertheless, the two couldn’t even find the hem of Lee Jae-heon’s shirt.
“Where on earth have you gone?…” Hearing
Kang Min-ah’s devastated voice, Ha Seong-yoon adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth.
“I think we need to find it quickly. It is true that Jaeheon Lee’s condition has improved with the help of Inho Jeong, but he is still affected by the green algae monster.”
“I guess that’s the reason, right?”
“As of now, I would say it is the most likely. You’ve been holding up well so far, so why did your condition suddenly get worse?…”
Actually, even if I said that, it wasn’t like I couldn’t understand it at all.
“…I think it’s probably because of Song In-myeong.”
Although he was distracted for some reason due to his changed eyes, Ha Seong-yoon had a basic sense of humor. He noticed that whenever Song In-myeong approached Lee Jae-heon, the expressions of the students in school uniform and Jeong In-ho worsened. They probably felt something from Song In-myeong.
However, Ha Seong-yoon’s eyes did not provide any information about Song In-myeong, so it was unclear what exactly happened between them. He too was already too tired to think calmly.
But the current situation was a different story.
“It is said that the effect of the green algae monster is to want to kill others… to cause murderous intent. Jaeheon Lee never said that such murderous intent would be directed at a specific person.”
“But you only chased after Song In-myeong.”
“Even though we called him. “It seemed like he was so out of his mind that he could barely hear it, but if that was the case, there must have been a difference between Song In-myeong and us.”
And Jaeheon Lee clearly said that.
“The teacher asked, ‘Why did you do that?’”
It was undoubtedly true that Song In-myeong had done something.
Of course, the group of people who followed Lee Jae-heon trusted the person they were following more than a college student they had only met for a short time. Even as a personal supervisor, the sight of him openly demanding Jae-heon Lee’s sacrifice did not look very good.
Kang Min-ah and Ha Seong-yoon predicted that Song In-myeong was the reason why Lee Jae-heon, who had been holding back well until now, burst out. In fact, anyone who saw the situation would have judged it that way.
There was nervousness evident in his steps.
“For someone who has been patient until now to become so angry, I think we have to assume that something has happened.”
“…the manager has never been truly angry until now.”
Kang Min-ah continued, recalling the image of Manager Lee Jae-heon at the time.
“There really has never been one.”
Yes, it would have been more correct to say it was anger rather than simple murderous intent.
Even when she put herself in danger with her insensitive behavior and got a big hole in her leg, he didn’t get angry even though the other members of the group abandoned Kang Min-ah and Lee Jae-heon and ran.
He was not the kind of person who would get angry even if someone strangled him or insulted him. At least, if this is the Lee Jae-heon that Kang Min-ah has seen during her time in this world.
In that case, the person who made that person angry was bad.
“….”
“…but we can’t let you commit murder, can we?”
“That’s natural.”
Kang Min-ah swung the hammer in her hand while muttering in her characteristic quiet voice.
―Clap!
“I’d better stand in the front, sir.”
Fighting.
The familiar green vines flutter and fall to the ground.
It was definitely a green color that matched this ridiculous park, but it had a sense of incongruity, like something you would see in a long-term store. Its dense teeth hung like centipede legs, writhing in pain.
That thing is going to kill us.
“…It feels… very good.”
“I guess it’s because I’ve become more sensitive these days.”
Kang Min-ah, who saw Ha Seong-yoon obediently stepping back, stood in front as if to protect him. Since the difference between whether or not someone possessed a decent weapon was significant, Kang Min-ah decided that it would be better for her, who had recently become familiar with a hammer, to stand in front. This is because the hammer is more powerful than the wooden block that Ha Seong-yoon is holding.
I opened my mouth once again as I saw the slimy things slowly approaching.
“…It’s not so gross anymore.”
“….”
“Am I going crazy?”
Ha Seong-yoon, touching his earlobe in a voice that was unusually tired for someone to say he was crazy, answered with a smile like a painting. It was the gentle and kind smile he always gave.
“That can’t be right.”
“….”
“He said that if he was really crazy, he wouldn’t even know he was crazy. “At the very least, Kang Min-ah, please protect others and act as a support.”
“…Ahaha….”
“I am always grateful.”
Kang Min-ah asked.
“Am I willing?”
Ha Seong-yoon answered.
“yes.”
“Am I doing well?”
“of course.”
“Am I the one who can take responsibility for you…?”
I answered.
“It’s always been like that, hasn’t it?”
“….”
Kang Min-ah couldn’t help but laugh as she saw the numerous toothy vines approaching.
“What a relief.”
I always wanted to be someone who did my part.
I grew up hearing that I had a special sense of responsibility. I wanted to become a talent worthy of that evaluation. Responsibility as a child. Responsibilities as an employee. Kang Min-ah always lived with the responsibility of becoming an adult like an awl stuck in her head.
Also, ever since Director Lee Jae-heon saved her from almost dying and sacrificed a leg in her place, he has suffered from a terrible sense of responsibility. Even though she couldn’t come to her senses just once and foolishly passed it as a military reward, in the end, Lee Jae-heon got sick in her place. Because I was in pain and bleeding.
Kang Min-ah wants to protect someone.
“….”
Coo.
Looking at the approaching vines, she adjusted her grip on the hammer. They were crawling like snakes from all directions, squeezing the two of them as if they were everywhere you could see when you turned your eyes.
Nevertheless, Kang Min-ah did not back down.
“Ha Seong-yoon.”
“Say yes.”
“Please.”
I won’t be able to back down if you are here.
“…please be my cliff.”
Then I will become stronger.
Biting her lip, she waved her arms.
* * *
“….”
As far as probability allowed, Lee Jae-heon planned to drag Song In-myeong to the abyss.
Like a water ghost.
‘That’s convenient because you only die once.’
This is a world where death occurs only once in a person’s life. In the previous world, using the water ghost strategy like this was very inefficient because you had to respawn and grab him by the collar, but in the current world, the fact that everything is permanently over was a very novel rule for Lee Jae-heon.
So Jaeheon Lee planned to die with Song Inmyeong if possible. At least expose who that bastard is. Since Ha Seong-yoon had been informed in advance that it was a mafia game and all, the party would have been able to handle either the former or the latter relatively easily. I thought that even if I couldn’t kill him, he would find me.
And the reason why Lee Jae-heon, who had memories of his previous life and experienced all the hardships he faced, thought about ‘if the hunt fails’ was simple.
“…To be unnecessarily fast….”
Song In-myeong was a master at running away.
‘That’s why I ran away even in front of Police Officer Kim.’
Many people misunderstand Kim Yeon-woo because of her thin physique, but she was also a police officer. Even as she was building her career to become a detective, there was no way her skills were inferior to other police officers.
First of all, Police Officer Kim had very good observation skills. The time it takes to instantly understand an opponent is incredibly short compared to others, and as a result, his judgment and ability to act are also quick. The fact that she, who had great stamina and strength, was unable to catch the criminal even after seeing it in front of her eyes means that the other person ran away quickly and against common sense.
And the current Lee Jae-heon did not have the same extraordinarily strong physical abilities as he did in his previous life, and considering the setting of ‘being affected by a green algae monster and bleeding out’, he couldn’t show any more than a normal appearance. It was perhaps natural that he would miss Song In-myeong.
“…Hmm.”
However, there was still another reason why Jaeheon Lee was relaxed.
‘I’m probably going to the flower field anyway.’
No matter how much the original content was shattered by his hand, there were some basic settings that remained.
Not only did three people die in an instant in the flower field for no reason, and Kang Min-ah nearly died after falling off that cliff, I roughly remembered the setting inside the park.
Why is the topography of the flower field shaped like a cliff?
“I guess I just have to catch it before it falls and dies.”
Aren’t the flowers below openly beckoning me to come and fall and die?
Flowers have the ability to attract survivors, and this begins when they realize that the object exists in the park. Although he didn’t know how the plants on the ground could tell about the situation inside the park, the protagonist decided that it was probably related to the centipede monster that was the owner.
Therefore, within the park, survivors who think ‘I want to run away somewhere’ or who run without setting a proper destination end up heading near the flower fields. This was also the reason why Lee Jae-heon was able to find Kang Min-ah and the others who were the first ones to escape without much trouble.
‘It was surprising, however, that the hallucinations would work even if you didn’t go near the flower fields.’
Lee Jae-heon, who read the novel, thought that when he was far away from a flower field, he was unconsciously drawn to it and when he got close to it, powerful hallucinations came into play. It was simply because the main character made that judgment in the story, without much basis.
But now that I think about it, it might be true that I had hallucinations even in the park.
‘It seems like he said he saw something like a ghost a few times when he was at the park…’
More than anything, it was largely due to the information that student Park Da-young had previously told him. Around the time that Park Da-hoon ran away with Kang Min-ah, Ha Seong-yoon, who was separating the child from the adult, said that he saw the child’s image. And didn’t Park Da-young say that, in her opinion, it was a child named Min-hong?
Then you would be right. The Park siblings have good insight and Ha Seong-yoon has basic qualifications, so it would be correct to combine their opinions. Respecting and thinking deeply about the opinions of team members was an essential competency as the head of a team.
However, in that case, the timing was ambiguous.
‘If the abandoned dog monster went on the rampage, it is highly likely that Choi Min-hong would have already died.’
I’m not sure if the last name is really Choi, but whatever.
In the other world, corpses do not rot, so they are gradually torn apart by the monster’s nutrients.
Because of this setting, it is difficult for anyone to know the exact time of the victim’s death, but if Lee Jae-heon had guessed in his mind, there was a high probability that what Da-hoon Park and Seong-yoon Ha saw was an illusion.
And the representative hallucinogenic abilities in the park were none other than the flowers in the flower garden.
“….”
No, wait a minute.
‘Why did you show me such a vision?’
What difference does showing that make?
In fact, that was enough to make me wonder if it would be right to think of it as a ghost rather than a flower’s ability to hallucinate. Damn it, there was nothing that couldn’t happen in the underworld. It’s like this fantastic side world. There is nothing you can’t do if you apply your mental strength.
Jaeheon Lee shook his complicated head with his free hand and changed his thoughts.
“That’s not important right now.”
In any case, his best bet was to befriend the killer, and his best bet was to expose his identity. Lee Jae-heon really wanted to avoid wasting energy by playing mafia games with the remaining survivors after his death. That was too inefficient.
So, first of all, I have to finish by finding out where Song In-myeong is, but…
“….”
It’s hard to make a living.
‘It drives me crazy why I’m using this good ability to kill people.’
Song In-myeong, who had an annoying talent for running away, didn’t even leave a trace.
Even if he had been in his previous life, he would have been kept in solitary confinement because he was fundamentally bad at recycling, but that ability was really a waste. I thought this would also be a waste of talent.
‘If you’re going to use that ability like that, give it to someone else.’
Lee Jae-heon chased after Song In-myeong while worrying about various things, but in the end, he couldn’t even catch Song In-myeong and ended up going in circles. Even as he walked quickly toward the flower field, he couldn’t stop grumbling inwardly.
Lee Jae-heon wanted to get the job done as quickly and quietly as possible. So he hoped the monsters would attract the attention of other foraging groups, but the quiet was overshadowed by the influx of chicks who had adapted to this world in their own way.
Now that things are like this, he has no choice but to finish it before other survivors interfere with him…
“…”
Around that time, this thought passed through Lee Jae-heon’s brain.
“…No way….”
Ah, no way, right?
Won’t those bastards get caught in the flower garden for no reason?
